On June 1, 2017 President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Treaty, often called the Paris Agreement or Accord. Based on the caterwauling and wringing of hands by environmentalists, the media, state and local officials, and foreign leaders, you would have thought that floods would be ensuing within days due to the polar ice caps melting overnight and the end of the world was nigh.
GAO Duplication Report Should Guide Trump
Early in his presidency, Donald Trump has demonstrated through words and deeds a commitment to reforming and reorganizing the federal bureaucracy, including the elimination of waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement. A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will make that job a little easier.
Debt Ceiling: A Good Vehicle for Budget Process Reform
On March 7, 2017, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced that if the debt ceiling was not raised or extended before March 16, the U.S. Treasury would be unable to borrow funds for standard operating procedures. Since then, the Treasury has been forced to use accounting maneuvers known as “extraordinary measures” to keep the government running, but these work-arounds will only delay the inevitable debate that Congress must have. Eventually, Congress will have to decide how to address the debt ceiling, or the federal government will default on its payments and risk an economic crisis.
Congressional Appropriators: Rating the “Third Party”
A practical reality of life on Capitol Hill can be summed up with a saying often attributed to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). In his book, Worth the Fighting for, Sen. McCain writes that, “there are, it is often observed, three parties in Congress, Republicans, Democrats, and appropriators.” Further explained by Barry Popik, a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary (among others), the saying “means that ‘pork barrel’ spending is nonpartisan.”
The Jetsons and the Internet of Things
“The Jetsons” was only on television for one season, 55 years ago, but it produced a lasting impression about an interconnected future. The show didn’t use the term “Internet of Things,” but much of what took place fits into today’s technology.
Tech CEOs Step Up for Taxpayers
Today’s meeting of the White House Office of American Innovation is being attended by 18 private sector technology experts, including the CEOs of some of the most innovative and successful companies in U.S. history. Their expertise is welcome and necessary.
Thornberry’s Attempt at Acquisition Reform
Over the past 15 years, the budget of the Department of Defense (DoD) has swollen to encompass more than 50 percent of discretionary spending in fiscal year (FY) 2016, and is expected to increase by an additional $54 billion in FY 2018. Unbelievably, it is the lone federal agency to have never undergone an audit, as is required by law. The vital nature of the Pentagon’s mission means that inefficiency in this sector is too dangerous to tolerate. Wasted spending costs taxpayers and undermines the capability of the armed forces.
Supreme Court’s Decision on Biosimilars is Precedent Setting
Yesterday, with little notice, a big decision was made by the Supreme Court of the United States. Their ruling means biosimilars, or “generic” versions of biologic drugs, will be able to be marketed immediately after approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), just as Congress intended. The decision will save consumers and taxpayers billions of dollars.
We Won’t Always Have Paris
Yesterday, President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Treaty or, as it is often called, the Paris Accord. He righted what has been a bone of contention since the agreement’s birth at the Paris climate change meeting in November 2015. Many senators and policy analysts have rightfully argued the climate agreement was a treaty and should have been submitted to the Senate for advice and consent, as the Constitution requires. But, President Obama did not want to submit it to the Senate because he knew it would not be ratified. Instead, he continued his executive overreach and implemented the policy illegally with his “pen and his phone.” Chris Horner and Marlo Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute discuss in their May 2017 report the serious legal and economic consequences to the U.S. if President Obama’s actions were not reversed.
That CBO Score for the American Health Care Act
All of Washington finally got what it had been waiting for since the beginning of May: The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score for H.R. 1628, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), which passed the House of Representatives on May 4, 2017, by a vote of 217 to 213. As you will recall, ACHA is designed to repeal and replace Obamacare. Now the bill will be sent to the Senate for consideration.